Small ethical UK business gets worldwide recognition
Greenwise Staff
20th October 2008
A UK businesswoman that has put quality and ethical trading at the centre of her one-year old business is getting domestic and international recognition for her efforts.
Niamh Barker founded The Travelwrap Company in August 2007 and has already scooped the 2008 UK Luxury Gift of the Year award. Now she has been named a Finalist in the Best New Company of The Year category in The Fifth annual international Stevie Awards for Women in Business.
The Travelwrap Company, based in Hampshire, sells luxurious contemporary knitted Scottish cashmere wraps. Barker said sustainability and ethical trading were a founding ethos of the company.
“We take it very seriously,” she said. “We looked at many mills before coming back to Johnstons Cashmere in Scotland, which knits our Travelwraps. Johnstons takes the sustainability issues of its cashmere supply very seriously and sponsors overgrazing programmes in Mongolia. It also works with the same herdsmen in Mongolia for years and pays its herdsmen a year in advance.”
Commenting on her shortlisting for the finals of the Stevie Awards, Barker said: “Our ambition has been to create a luxury brand in the UK and for it to be recognised internationally is a huge milestone for the company.”
The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honour women executives, entrepreneurs, and the companies they run.
The Travelwrap Company is a finalist in the Best New Company of The Year category.
Winners will be announced during a gala event at the Marriott Marquis hotel in New York on Friday, November 14.